William’s ready to embrace throne
SPEAKING openly about his mother is important, says Prince William, because it ‘reminds people of the person she was’. But, significantly, in doing so, he has been equally revealing about himself.
For this is not just a poignant homage to an adored mother. It also offers a fresh portrait of a more purposeful prince at a pivotal moment in his life.
In the next few days William will formally complete his transition from part-time royalty to frontline member of the Firm.
Before the end of the month he will carry out his last mission as a pilot with the East Anglian Air Ambulance and hang up his flying suit.
From September he will devote all his time to public duties in support of Queen Elizabeth.
We are going to see more of the Cambridges undertaking trips like last week’s tour of Poland and Germany. As British ministers and diplomats battle to reposition the UK on the post-Brexit world stage, it is the royal family who will be expected to apply soothing balm to all the bilateral cuts and bruises.
All of which, inevitably, will invite fresh scrutiny of William’s appetite for the role which lies ahead, particularly in light of Prince Harry’s recent remark: ‘Is there any one of the royal family who wants to be king or queen? I don’t think so.’
In the documentary, though, his older brother comes across as a mature, stoical, reflective figure who seems comfortable focusing on the next stage of his life. Not long after his wedding in 2011 I asked William what he thought about his royal destiny. ‘As I am flying along in my helicopter,’ he replied, ‘I try desperately hard not to think about it. That can wait until I’m older.’
Six years on, it would seem he has thought about it a lot and it is clear that his mother has shaped his attitude to the job.
‘She gave us the right tools and has prepared us well for life,’ he points out. ‘She understood that there was a real life outside [the] Palace walls, and she wanted us to see it from a very young age. We understood some of the real problems in life that can pass you by very easily.’William clearly acknowledges that those in positions of great privilege have a moral obligation to explore outside their comfort zones. Hence, the sight of him visiting a shelter for the homeless. As he points out, it all stems from visiting the homeless with his mother at the age of 12. What we sense in this film, however, is a new confidence in front of the camera. Here is someone with an innate wariness of the media – ‘one lesson I’ve learnt is you never let them in too far because it’s very difficult to get them back out again’; a man for whom speech-making is clearly a duty rather than a pleasure.
Yet, when discussing subjects which would leave many eloquent public figures floundering for words, William shows a natural empathy. ‘My heart goes out to all the people who have lost their loved ones,’ he says. ‘You know – it does connect you. It’s a very sad “club” you don’t want to be a member of. But you do all have a shared sort of pain that you can immediately understand and see in anyone when you meet them.’
THE princes may have stayed quiet for many years about their own deep loss but no more. Tonight’s film shows they are determined to shape the way the world remembers their mother rather than leaving it to others.
That was underlined by William’s decision to introduce the film personally at a special preview screening for royal correspondents. Subtext: this is no ordinary documentary – this is
our documentary. Of two things we can be very clear. However much critics of the royal family accuse them of ‘airbrushing’ Diana from history, there is no chance of that.
And as William embarks on the next phase of royal life, he clearly feels he now has the ‘tools’ for the job.